Phoenixville, OJR students raise money for good cause

PHOENIXVILLE — Although Penn State’s official THON for 2013 already happened in February, two separate groups of students took the initiative to organize their high schools’ first Mini-THONs to raise money for families dealing with pediatric cancer.

“I had a great committee of students helping me out,” said Sarah Hume, the freshman who piloted Owen J. Roberts High School’s Mini-THON. “It was definitely really student-run.”

Similarly, at Phoenixville Area High School, about three weeks earlier, their successful Mini-THON was a student-driven endeavor.

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“I went to this leadership conference, HOBY, this summer and we got a presentation there about THON at Penn State,” said Karlyn Small, the junior class representative to the Phoenixville Area School Board who headed Phoenixville’s Mini-Thon.

“Kyle Kobilka, Alyse Phillips at the start,” helped out, Small said, “Jamie Connors and Chelsea Stouch, they became more of a part at the end. They all four were instrumental in making this work.”

Small said he’d never experienced THON himself before, but got guidance from teachers and Phillips, who had.

When all was said and done, Phoenixville’s March 1 event raised $7,886 and Owen J. Roberts’ dance marathon March 22 raised $8,646.

Although each Mini-THON lasted just 12 hours, as opposed to the weekend-long event at Penn State, much more than 12 hours of effort went into making things happen.

In the months leading up to the Phoenixville Mini-THON, Small and his partners visited area businesses to solicit for donations and food.

Things only got more intense as March 1 approached.

“It was a lot of management of information,” Small said. “At the end we were getting a lot of information in a short amount of time.”

Owen J. Roberts students also got 10 local businesses to chip in to the event.

In addition to the efforts of the students, both Small and Hume said teachers and staff really helped out make the events what they were.

Among those that helped him, Small listed math teacher Erik Rutchauskas and the high school’s assistant principal, Nicholas Gilly, as instrumental.

By the time their events rolled around, the students had been in school for a full day and put in crunch-time preparations.

“That was definitely an all-day affair,” Small said. “We had to get decorations up. We were definitely pushed for time there.”

Each event stretched from a Friday to a Saturday.

“Everybody was dancing like crazy in the beginning,” Hume laughed. “In the last couple of hours, everybody’s feet were really hurting.”

Phoenixville Superintendent Alan Fegley was impressed by his students.

“It was way more than 12 hours (of effort),” Fegley said. “They had all the right kind of spirit.”

When Hume finished cleaning up after the Owen J. Roberts Mini-THON, with the help of school security officers, she said she slept until 5 p.m. Saturday.

“Service learning is invaluable,” he said. “I know the students and staff were very proud.”

Among the staff that aided Hume was the high school’s principal, Rich Marchini, and librarian, Amy Christman.

In face of the success of their events, both Hume and Small want to make their Mini-THONs an annual event.

“This is definitely something we want to continue, we plan on continuing it,” Small said. “We want to put in place plans so that we can have one of these younger kids come ahead so they can take control when we’re gone.”

Hume said she plans on continuing the event in her next three years at Owen J. Roberts and looking for someone else to take over when she finishes up.

“I think this is the beginning of a wonderful tradition,” Christian said.

Although it was a lot of work, both Small and Hume were glad they could just help out.

“I personally just do this because I like to help people,” Small said. “When I do things like this as an adult, I’ll do this without expectation of things getting back to me because I think that’s what life is about. My friends, they all share the same value.”

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.